A Son of Hades
by Nightlock64
Summary: Based in Camp Half-Blood, a new camper is still settling in. Tells of his life around Camp, his quests, adventures and perhaps later on some romance. Will probably include some Percabeth further on. Note this story is not based on Nico, just one of my OC who is a son of Hades as well. I have based the main character on me (personality etc.). My first story on Fanfiction.
1. A New Arrival

**So basically this is my first ever story, based in Camp Half-Blood, and well...you read the summary. Romance probably later on. Any ideas welcome, my updates (if continuing) will be irreguler, as I have school work and a life. Flames I can deal with, but I'm looking for constructive critiscm please? Enjoy?**

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**Felix's POV**

I sighed as he landed heavily in the dirt, and felt the familiar coldness of a blade against my neck.

"Give up?" asks Harley, who had barely broken a sweat after fighting me for an hour straight.

"Fine" I muttered as I picked myself off the ground. I hated the fact that I could get beaten by someone who was younger than me, and he wasn't even an Ares or Athena kid either.

I guess I should introduce myself. Felix Stone, son of Hades, god of the Underworld and riches. Not the most cheerful guy. Anyway, I had joined camp a few months ago, at the age of 13, where I had been introduced to a crazy world of Gods and mythical creatures and a load of other mind-blowing stuff. I had power over riches, which I didn't find very helpful, unless I was going to grow up to be a jeweller. I also had a talent for most sports, save swimming and swordsmanship. The way I saw it, by the time you had got within a few meters of an enemy, you didn't need a weapon. Either disarm them or use martial arts. Simple.

"Hey, finished getting your butt kicked?"

I looked up to see Lizzie, one of my friends (yes Hades kids can have friends too!).

"Shaddup" I said playfully. "Swordplay is stupid. Go to Chiron and I bet he can give you a list of reasons why." She laughed at that.

"You coming to dinner, or are going to sit and be depressed in your cabin?"

"Hey, just because I'm a Hades kid doesn't mean I'm _always _depressed!"

As we gathered round the campfire, I slowly turned a marshmallow over the flames. I liked fire, for some reason I found it calming, and that it made it easier for me to collect my thoughts. It fascinated me, how it flickered, casting shadows and warmth. I zoned out a bit, but was soon brought back to reality by Chiron's hoof echoing off the stone. I glanced at my marshmallow, which was nothing more than a lump of burnt black mush. I sighed as it flopped of my stick and into the embers below.

'Have a free marshmallow' I thought to the Gods.

"Campers!" Chiron bellowed. We fell silent, except for a few Aphrodite girls giggling, not realizing Chiron had arrived.

"Ahem" Chiron cleared his throat. The girls blushed, and promptly fell silent.

"Now, I would like to introduce a new addition to our camp" Chiron announced. A tall teenager stepped forward, her golden-brown eyes reflecting the flames. She had long black hair and a pretty face. She seemed uncomfortable being in the spotlight, the many pairs of eyes looking at her.

"She has yet to be claimed, so -"

Chiron stopped quickly, realizing that there was another glowing light dancing across the floor. A shimmering trident was hovering above her head, the well-known symbol of Poseidon. All at once, everyone started kneeling, making her all the more uncomfortable under the growing attention.

"Um, well, I stand corrected. Hail, Jade Avedon, daughter of Poseidon. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses."

As she scanned the crowd hesitantly, she held my gaze for a moment, before looking away, blushing. I shrank into the shadows shyly (literally - as a son of Hades I can do that). She stepped back and fell down a step, landing on the ground awkwardly, more or less immediately gaining a clumsy reputation. The crowd burst into sniggers, but Chiron helped her up and told her she could have a look round her cabin. She left quickly, wincing a bit and blushing furiously.

"Okay campers, bed now" Chiron said as he turned and left, his hooves rapping against the stone.

As they dispersed, I caught bits of conversation.

"Oh my god, did you see her, she was like, sooo ugly."

"Hah, did you see her face when she fell! She was like-"

"Yeah, she was kinda cute, but she was wearing this…."

Lizzie caught up with me as I walked towards my cabin. "I felt sorry for her - I mean, of all the times to fall over!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yep!" She headed towards her cabin, number 20, Hecate.

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**My first ever story on Fanfiction, so tell me what I'm doing wrong etc. I realise that this is just a small bit of text, I will hopefully do more in the future. The rule of that the big three can't have children doesn't exist in my story, as it just makes things difficult! Any comments, questions and constructive criticism welcome.**

**-Nightlock64-**


	2. A Brother?

**So, I'm adding in the more well-known characters now, like Annabeth, Percy, Clarisse etc. Still deciding whether or not to include Piper, Jason and Leo (and all that lot). Well, here's my second chapter…**

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**Felix's POV**

As I melted away from the crowd, I noticed a figure slipping away in a different direction from the cabins. Thinking this a little odd, I glanced around quickly, then closed my eyes and concentrated, before opening them a few moments later. I smiled and followed the figure, heading up towards the beach. I wasn't invisible, just…blending in with the surrounding darkness. It was an ability I had worked out a few weeks ago – as long as I stuck to the shadows, I could slip by most people.

It was strange that someone would venture out this late. Curfew was soon, and everyone knew the harpies would eat you if you stayed too late. I debated this in my head, but decided there was little risk, especially as it was unlikely I would be noticed. I suddenly caught sight of a black silhouette against the darkening sky, and cursed. I was a little too out in the open for my liking, and quickly darted back into the shadows. I couldn't think who would be flying this late, but pushed the thought aside. I was supposed to be following someone. I just glimpsed them disappearing over a small hill, and made my way towards it.

As I poked my head round a corner, I frowned. The figure was gone. He had simply vanished, as if there were a secret door somewhere. _But how?_ There was a small open area over the hill before the beach. But I had barely lost sight of him for five seconds. I squinted hard around the area, not believing that they had slipped me. _'Impossible'_ I muttered.

"Ah, but you know what they say," came a voice behind me. "Nothing's impossible." I whipped round to find myself facing a guy that looked about 16, with long, messy black hair and brown eyes. He was quite tall, perhaps around 6 foot and wore a silver ring. I couldn't make out what was on it. Dressed all in black, he looked a little mysterious and dangerous, the sort of person that might make someone cross the street tp avoid him. He also had a somewhat vague resemblance that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I immediately stepped back and took up a defensive stance.

"Whoah," he said, putting his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "I'm not going to hurt you or anything. There's going to be plenty of time for that in the arena," he grinned. I noticed a sword hanging from his chain belt. It looked as if it had been forged out of pure darkness. _Stygian Iron, _I thought. Yep, always nice to have my brain spouting me annoying and unnecessery facts about metals.

"Who are you?" I asked warily. "And how did you sneak up on me? What do you mean, there's going to be plenty of time for that in the arena?"

"So many questions," he smirked. "I'm Nico di Angelo."

"That doesn't answer much," I frowned.

He sighed. "I suppose not. I'm your brother. Or so I've heard."

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**So there's my second chapter, I'll be updating every few weeks at the latest, whenever ideas come really. At the moment I've got quite a few, so I won't keep you waiting too long (if anyone is actually bothering to read my story).**

**-Nightlock64-**


	3. Mischeif and Mingling

**I realised that my last update was quite short, so I tried to update again as soon as possible.**

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**Felix's POV**

Well, I hadn't seen that coming. "You're my _brother_!?" I spluttered unbelievingly.

"Well, half-brother to be exact," he replied, grinning at my surprise. "I'm a son of Hades as well. And before you," he went on, "I could say that I was _the_ son of Hades. But I guess you've taken that title away from me now."

I suppose it made sense. Dark clothes. A black sword. Pale skin. I could just make out a skull on the ring in the dim moonlight. "How did you creep up on me?" I asked. "_I_ was supposed to be the one creeping up on _you._"

Nico smiled. "You have much to learn. You might have other powers you were unaware of as well. For example." He waved his hand over the ground. A pile of bones appeared.

"Very impressive," I said sarcastically. But I then watched in amazement as they slowly moved together to form a miniature horse, which started to gallop off. Before it could get far, however, Nico snapped his fingers and it sunk back into the ground.

"Cool," I grinned. "I want to learn that."

"All in good time, little brother. But it's late at the moment. We should be getting back."

"Oh yeah," I remember, thinking of why I even followed him (or did it end up the other way around) in the first place. "Where were you going?"

"Sometimes I just need time to think." he replied. I wanted to ask him more, but just then we heard voices.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I heard something," came a harpy's voice.

"I hope so, I could do with a midnight snack!" said another.

"Let's move," whispered Nico, who was already disappearing though the shadows, making a wide arc around the direction of the voices.

"Hey, wait up!" I called, as loudly as I dared. But Nico wasn't going to wait around. He moved silently, making no sound at all. The fact he could also blend into darkness better than me didn't help me follow him. Eventually I lost sight of him completely and just headed back to the cabins in a more direct route, hoping the harpies were gone.

By the time I got back to the cabins, Nico was already there. "How did you get here so fast?" I asked, frowning. "Shadow travel," he replied simply.

I made a mental note to ask about that. "So, anything new at Camp?" he asked.

"Well I've only been here for a few months, so pretty much everything is new to me," I said. "But there was a new girl that was introduced tonight. You just missed it, I think. She was claimed."

"Oh yeah?" he said questioningly. "What cabin?"

_I recalled earlier that night. __She had looked really nice in the firelight_ I thought. _Her light brown eyes, long, straight black hair that fell over her face in the gentle breeze…_

"Hello?"

"Uh, what?" I asked stupidly. Nico snickered.

"Dreaming of a certain someone, are we?"

"Wha-? No!" My response came out louder than planned. "I'm just…tired," I answered lamely.

"Sure, sure," he said sarcastically. "I think my little brother has his first crush! So, which cabin?"

"I do _not_" I snapped indignantly. "And she was from one of the big three – Poseidon."

There were a few moments of silence, in which only the quiet burning of the green torches could be heard, throwing ghost-like shadows across the black obsidian walls.

"Um, why haven't I seen you around before?" I said, mostly wanting to change the subject, but it was also something that had only just crossed my mind. "I pop in when I feel like it," he answered. I was going to ask him where else he could go that was safe for a demi-god, but he yawned and sat down on his bed. I decided to leave it until tomorrow. He looked pretty tired.

"I'm going to get some sleep," I said, as I jumped ungracefully onto my bunk.

"M'kay," he muttered wearily. I fell asleep almost right away, but that didn't last long. A minute later, he suddenly started laughing.

"Um, are you alright?" I asked. I was half freaked out from his random outburst, and half irritated from being woken up.

"Yeah," he said. "Just imagining Percy's reaction when he finds another girl sleeping in his room."

"Percy went to run an errand for Hermes a few days ago, I think."

"Did he? That would explain his late return."

"Wait, was that him on the Pegasus a while ago?"

"Yeah, I think so. Then he grinned mischievously. Speaking of Hermes…be right back," he said, then got up and walked straight towards a wall, but just before he hit it he disappeared.

_Wow _I thought. _I have got learn how to do that._ About half a minute later, he reappeared.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

"You'll find out tomorrow. Just go to sleep now."

"Just try not to wake me up again" I muttered, and with that fell into a much needed sleep. I had no disturbing dreams that night, which was a first in a while. I'd heard demi-gods often had visions and nightmares when they slept, but as a child of the Big Three, I tended to get them more often. I wondered if it was to do with the comfort of my older brother being with me that I hadn't that night.

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The next morning, I was woken by Nico. I freaked out a bit and nearly jumped out the window, but then I recalled the series of events last night. _Always nice to have your own personal alarm clock_ I thought, as I looked at the time.

"It's only 7:30!" I whined, rolling over and disappearing in my covers.

"C'mon" he said. "Unless, of course, you don't want to find out who I visited last night. Oh yeah, I think I saw Jade walking around on the beach as well. Do you still like her if she's an early riser?" he chuckled, and left without giving me a chance to answer.

I had a quick shower and pulled on some clean clothes, before doing my hair and stepping out my cabin. Hearing that Jade was up was _not _the reason I decided to get up. I wanted to find out where my brother had gone that night. Okay, and _maybe_ see if I could go and find Jade.

"Ugh, daylight!" I muttered, as my eyes gradually adjusted from the gloom of my cabin to the bright sunshine. I caught sight of Nico walking towards me from the mess hall, breakfast in one hand and his phone in the other.

"We're not supposed to have those," I said, noticing his slim Nokia.

"I'm not _calling_ anyone," he pointed out. "Even if I did, we're safe inside the camp boundaries."

"Watch this," he grinned, handing it over, careful to keep his toast on his plate. I tapped the screen, and a video started playing. It was inside the Poseidon Cabin, with the noise of trickling water in the background. The camera zoomed in on a girl, asleep presumably. Then I recognised her face – the black hair, a beautiful face. It was Jade. She looked so cute asleep – sweet and angelic, like an angel of beauty, that had descended straight from the heavens themselves…

_The video!_ I thought. I had to stop getting side-tracked like that.

The camera was then placed somewhere, perhaps hidden behind a few books or something. In the corner, the door opened and Percy Jackson walked in. He looked tired. He simply crashed on his bed, not looking where he sat – which happened to be right on Jade. He frowned and looked down to find the stirring figure of his half-sister (though of course he didn't know it yet). He jumped in surprise, his head hitting the top of his bed with a loud _thud. _He looked like he had just been bitten on his backside as he rolled of his bed, and jumped up, knocking his minotaur horn of its stand. The video stopped there, and Nico was in fits of laughter.

"Did you see his face!" he cried. "He was all like – WTF! He looked like he'd seen Typhon again!"

I sniggered. It had been pretty funny. Percy would have a crowd around him this morning, if he decided to leave his cabin, that is. But he could handle that. He had an excellent reputation, and had been at Camp long enough to know that everyone played practical jokes on each other.

On the other hand, Jade hadn't even been here 24 hours, and might be pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. I felt sorry for her, but then I realised it might also give me an excuse to talk to her – I could ask her if she was alright, and the hopefully get a conversation flowing. Where had my brother said he had seen her? On the beach?

"I'm just gonna get something to eat," I told him. "Meet me later in the arena," he replied. "I want to see if you're really as bad as I hear you are!"

I headed to the mess hall, grabbed a bacon sandwich, and then set off towards the beach.

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**So, that's that done. If I post a short-ish chapter, then expect an update of a longer one soon – I feel guilty that I have only written a small bit, and then end up writing quite a bit later on, like this. I've decided to set this…I'm not sure – somewhere in _The Son of Neptune_, or perhaps after it. Definitely after _The Last Olympian_, though, due to the _'He looked like he'd seen Typhon again!'_ quote. Well, that's all for now.**

**-Nightlock64-**


	4. Pancakes and Swordplay

**So, first of all, before you go read my fourth chapter, I would just like to say a huge thanks for everyone that reviewed! I appreciate all the support, especially from ****_thetigerlily_****! If you haven't already then I go check out her story ****_Death Princess _****as well! You won't be wasting your time, trust me. Also, thanks to my sister, ****_ForgottenXGuardian785,_**** who checked through my story and helped me with a few bits.**

**Also, I've noticed a few people haven't caught the name of my OC (Felix) – it's in the first chapter! I will also be adding in different POVs (point of views) from this chapter onwards!**

**So, where were we?**

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**Jade's POV**

I dug out a flat stone from the sand, and skimmed it across the sea. It bounced five times before sinking. I focused, and the stone slowly rose to the surface of the water again, and a current pushed it steadily towards me. I smiled as it landed at my feet, and then picked it and threw it again.

I thought about how normal my life had seemed just a few days ago – laughing with my friends, being bored to death in maths class, going to karate classes….but all that had changed quickly. I had been attacked, had to run for my life, and failed to save my best friend. _Well, I don't know that_ said a small voice in my head. _She might still be alive_. But I knew it was unlikely. On top of that, I had made a bad impression after being claimed, and then been embarrassed further because of my brother, who I didn't even know even existed until last night.

It was a lot to take for one night. A kind blonde, Annabeth, I think, had given me a map of the Camp, which I had studied earlier this morning. As soon as I saw the word _beach_, I had known that I wanted to go there. In past experiences, being near the sea had always helped clear my head, which was definitely what I needed at the moment.

I glanced to my left and saw the gloom of the woods just a short distance away.

"Time to head back," I muttered to myself. As I turned I noticed someone walking towards me. I frowned and started towards them as well. I recognised the boy from last night's campfire – black combat trousers, a light orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and long, messy, black hair that was perhaps a little tidier than yesterday. A small knife hung from his belt, which didn't look like it could put up much of a fight against a sword. His hair flopped over his left eye, which I thought was cute. _Wait, what am I thinking? I don't even know this guy! I didn't come here to get a boyfriend, I came here to survive!_

"Oh, hey!" he said. "You're Jade, right?"

"Yeah. And you're…."

"Felix. Son of Hades." He said the last part like he was disappointed, or he didn't particularly like his father. "You get up early," he commented.

"I could say the same to you," she answered.

"Yeah, but when you have a brother as your own personal alarm clock, you don't have much choice," he grimaced. I smiled at that.

"My brother sleeps like a rock," I laughed. "I have no such luxury."

"Well, if you can call that a luxury," he grinned. There was a short pause, before he asked "So, I guess Camp hasn't been too great for you so far, huh?"

"Not exactly," I admitted.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "People play practical jokes on each other all the time, especially the Hermes cabin. It gets better; I'll show you round if you want."

"Sure," I said, deciding to take up his offer as I hadn't really a clue about much. We started walking down along the river, towards the mess hall. "This girl called Annabeth gave me a map, but I'm still not sure where everything is."

"Annabeth…" Felix thought for a moment. "Oh, right. Your brother's girlfriend."

"Wait – she's my brother's girlfriend?" I asked, surprised. He hadn't looked like much last night, but maybe that was because he was so tired.

"Yeah," he replied. "You don't sound like you believe me?"

"I don't know... She just seemed so nice, and intelligent, and Percy….I'm not sure; kinda dopey."

"Yeah well," he said. "Your 'dopey' brother saved Olympus a few years back, and then saved the world again last year from Gaia."

I looked at him, like 'Yeah, _right_.'

"No, really," he smiled, seeing my sarcastic expression. "You should talk with him sometime. He's better than he looks, even if he is a bit of an idiot."

_Huh_ I thought. _Guess I shouldn't judge a book by its cover._

We reached the mess hall, which was getting more and more crowded as the morning went on.

"No prizes for guessing where this is," he said, gesturing around the room.

"It's the room where they serve great pancakes," I grinned, walking over to a table. I picked up several more (hey, they were _really_ nice) and Felix grabbed another bacon roll. A group of girls that wore too much make-up walked by, gossiping about who's going out with who and which couple would be the cutest together and a bunch of other girly stuff. A brunette broke away from the group and stopped in front of us.

"Hey Piper," Felix said.

"You're up early," she said. "So…aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"

"Um, this is Piper...she's in the Aphrodite cabin."

"Hi," I smiled. "You seem different from your sisters, somehow."

"She's more of a tomboy," Felix said. "She's also one of the only Aphrodite girls that is a decent fighter, and isn't an idiot."

I noticed her clothes – worn combat boots, ripped jeans, a leather jacket. Her hair was uneven, but despite everything, she still radiated beauty.

"A _decent_ fighter?" Piper challenged, with mock hurt. "I would kick your butt in a fight!"

"_Swordfight_," Felix corrected. "I reckon I could take you in hand-to-hand combat."

"Oh yeah, wanna try that out in the arena?" she grinned.

"I've just had breakfast – maybe later?" Felix asked.

"Sure. I haven't had any breakfast yet though. Jade, can I have your last pancake?"

I suddenly felt obliged to give her my last pancake. I started handing it over, but then stopped and frowned. _I didn't want to give away my last pancake, did I?_ _But why not?_ I thought. I was just about to hand it over when I remembered - _It's only my favourite – banana and chocolate! _My hand with my pancake withdrew a bit at this thought. Suddenly there was a loud _SNAP!_ like someone had clapped their hands in front of my face. I jerked back, almost dropping my pancake.

"Piper, don't be mean!" Felix chastised, before shooting a worrying glance in my direction. "You alright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," I said, a little shakily. "What just happened?"

"Piper is a daughter of Aphrodite, which mean she can charmspeak – basically making someone do anything she wants them to."

_"Anything?" _I asked. _Wouldn't they, like have complete control over everything if they can get anyone to do anything they wanted, then?_ I wondered.

"It takes up some energy, and doesn't work on everyone," Piper said, as if reading my thoughts. "I was testing you. You held up pretty well. I still want that pancake, though!"

"They're over there," I pointed.

"Fine, I'll get some of my own," she sighed. "I'll leave you two to get along." She walked off, leaving us in an awkward silence.

"So, the arena? I think my brother wanted to meet me there, and I could get in some extra hand-to-hand practice," said Felix.

"Can you beat her?" I asked as we made our way through the large horseshoe of cabins.

"Piper? Yeah. Probably."

"You don't sound so sure," I grinned. "I bet your going to get thrashed. She looked pretty good."

"I guess we'll have to see."

As we approached the arena, the sound of swords clanging against each other could be heard.

"C'mon, it might be a good fight!" Felix said, as he jogged towards the entrance. I followed, not knowing what else to do.

We were greeted by the sight of two armoured campers fighting fiercely – they slashed, dodged and countered each other's blows with great skill, but it was clear that the girl was getting the better of the other, pushing on to the offensive and working her partner hard.

"That's my brother," Felix pointed out to me, gesturing at the guy that was on the defensive. He fought with a deadly looking sword, pitch black and leaving a trail of darkness wherever it went. "It doesn't look like he's doing too well, but I suppose when you're fighting one of the best demi-gods there are, you can't expect it to end well."

"Who's he fighting?" I asked, vaguely recognising the girl.

"Annabeth," he answered. Fighting with just a sharp dagger, it was impressive she had the upper hand. _"Nobody_ beats her at swordplay," said Felix, a hint of annoyance in his voice. The opponents moved closer to them, Annabeth pressing Nico further and further back. "She's a bit of a show off, if you ask me."

"I heard that!" yelled Annabeth, never taking her eyes off the fight. She feinted to one side, but Nico didn't buy it. He kicked out, and Annabeth stumbled backwards, but managed to regain her balance by grabbing on to Nico's outstretched leg. He landed in the dirt, and Annabeth pounced on him, knocking the breath out his lungs.

"Do you accept defeat?" she smiled, pushing him down as he tried to get from up underneath her again.

"You know, for once my brother was right. You are a bit of a show off," muttered Nico through gritted teeth.

"What was that, di Angelo?" she said, glowering at him as she spun her dagger in her free hand.

"Nothing," he replied.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

**I realise I've probably made Felix, as a son of Hades, a bit too social, but it wouldn't be much of a story if he just sat around and didn't talk to anyone, right?**

**-Nightlock64-**


	5. Knives and Showers

**So, thanks again to everyone that reviewed, even if it's just a quick something!**

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**Jade's POV**

Nico got up from the dirt and walked over to us. "Well, I see you brought-" he stopped, glancing at Felix. "A friend," he finished, sheathing his sword.

"I'm Jade," I said, looking him over. He had similar features to Felix - pale skin, dark brown eyes and black hair, but shorter than Felix's. His dark t-shirt clung to him with sweat, and had a slash through it that looked recent.

"Um, nice to meet you," he said, a little awkwardly. "So, how are you at sword fighting? You can give it a go now, if you want."

"Um...I'm not sure, maybe later," I said, noticing the state of his clothes.

"Oh, you won't be doing anything that extreme. You won't end up like this," he grinned, looking down at his dirty and torn clothes.

"I haven't really handled a blade before, but I suppose I could give it a try," I decided, hoping that I wouldn't end up like Nico.

He yelled at Annabeth to get some weapons from the armoury so that I could pick one.

"Don't just go for any blade, go for the one that feels right," Felix said as Annabeth hurried off with Percy.

"Do I have to carry it around all time?" I asked, thinking how inconvenient that would be.

"Some people do - the Ares cabin for example - but you don't have to."

"You don't?" I guessed, looking at his belt, empty save except for the small knife.

"Well... I don't have one" he answered. "I'm useless with swords." His hand trailed down to the sharp knife on his belt. He glanced down at it and frowned. "I normally have more of these, though. Come on, I'll show you what I can do with them."

He walked through a doorway into a long room with targets dotted around - some dangling from the ceiling, others painted on dummies, and some bulls-eyes that just sat in the middle of the room. "You don't always have to choose a melee weapon. I chose this." He held up his knife, and went to collect a few more off a dented table in the corner of the room.

"Isn't a knife a melee weapon?" I asked, fairly confident I knew what I was talking about.

"Not this kind" he answered, taking a couple of steps towards one of the targets in clear sight. He drew back is arm and threw the knife. There was a _thud_ as the target was impaled with the knife. I was impressed - he had almost hit the middle, but was a little off to the left. He turned and struck a dummy squarely in the chest with another. It swung from its rope that suspended it from the ceiling. He threw his last two knives, aiming for a target the other end of the room. But they never reached it. Something flashed by and the knives were deflected, clattering harmlessly against the ground.

"Stop trying to impress your girlfriend, Felix." The voice came from the doorway the other side of the room. A tough looking girl leaned against the wall. She wore Goth style clothes and had an arrow notched in her bow. She looked like the sort of person you shouldn't mess with, or someone would get hurt. Presumably, not her.

"Thalia," muttered Felix. "Nice to see you too. And she's not my girlfriend. Just a friend."

"Uh huh," she answered teasingly. "At least you have good taste in knives," she said, studying his weapon carefully. It had a wooden handle, but a dark blade that looked like the same metal his brother's sword was made of. She picked up the second knife and turned to him. "So, let's see how your skills are developing," she smirked, and then she tossed the knives with all her force - straight at Felix.

I realised what was going to happen just before she drew back her arm and took aim. I yelled out, but only registered the dirt against my face a few moments later, and then the world turned black.

* * *

I woke in a large room that smelt like a hospital. My eyelids painfully fluttered open, not accustomed to light that filled the room. I sat up and saw Felix, who was fiddling with one of his knives, standing next to me. He was in conversation with a blonde - she had shoulder length hair and some sort of dark blue robe, as if she were a sorceress or apprentice. She had a few strange looking tattoos on her hands, and she wore several bracelets on her arm. Her eyes were strange - they flickered and changed colour, going from green, to blue, brown and then grey. A good looking guy joined them - also blond, with a bow slung over his back. Apollo cabin, I guessed.

"Well, look who decided to wake up from their afternoon nap," he grinned. Felix and his friend turned around to see me sitting up. I looked around. A few other people were sleeping on other beds, but otherwise the place was more or less empty.

"How you feeling?" the blond haired guy asked.

"Dizzy," I answered. "Headache."

"That's normal," he said. "So long as you're not going to throw up." I shook my head. He handed me a glass of what looked like golden liquid and told me to enjoy. I held the glass in front of me, looking curiously at the golden substance.

"It's fine," Felix assured me. I held the glass to my lips. I smelt delicious. I drank and a wonderful flavour filled my mouth - it was like a combination of all my favourite flavours, and I felt much better immediately. My head cleared and I felt like I could take on the world. It's more or less what I would describe as drinking pure happiness.

"Where am I?" I asked. "And what happened? How long have I been out?" I could only remember Thalia throwing the knives, and then...hitting the ground. I gasped and looked at Felix. "You're alright! What happened?" He smiled at my concern.

"I think it's you we need to be worrying about," he answered.

"So…" I prompted, still not getting the answer I was looking for.

"You used your powers," he said simply. I frowned. I knew I was a daughter of Poseidon and all that, and I was an excellent swimmer, but I had only managed to control and manipulate water a few times.

"I used my 'powers'?" I said uncertainly. "I've...I've never really been able to control them though."

"I guess we'll have to work on that." I recognized the voice of my brother. I was glad he had come to see me. Thalia had come with him as well, and my anger flared up a little when I saw her.

"Percy dragged me over here to say sorry," she muttered. She didn't sound particularly sorry.

"It's fine," I sighed. "You just scared me a bit." Thalia grinned.

"You have seen anything yet," she smirked. "In fact, I can show you -"

Percy cut her off. "Jeez, give her a break, Thalia!" He grabbed Thalia's hand which was hovering over one of her bracelets. "She's been through enough already."

"Fine," she sighed. "I'm going to find Annabeth - I haven't seen her in ages!"

She disappeared, as did the blonde girl, who introduced herself as Lizzie before following the Apollo camper out. There was an awkward pause between me, Felix and Percy that was broken by Nico strolling through a wall. Yes, _strolling through a wall_. I thought I was hallucinating at first, but Felix just rolled his eyes.

"You have _got_ to teach me that sometime," Felix smiled. Meanwhile, I was still lost as to how he had seemingly walked through the infirmary wall. Felix saw my confused expression and briefly explained about shadow travelling.

"So," Nico started, "what happened? I heard the archery range got a pretty good soaking." I realised that I too didn't know exactly what had happened. We both looked at Felix expectantly.

"What do you last remember?" he asked, unsure where to start.

"Thalia was just about to throw your knives."

"Right. I showed Jade the archery range, and my knives," he explained for Nico's benefit. "Thalia turned up, and tested how I was doing with the controlling metals thing."

"Controlling metals thing?" I asked.

"Hades is the god of the Underworld - death and riches. Well technically Thanatos is the god of death, but it doesn't matter. Children of Hades tend to be able to control one of these aspects." He stopped and concentrated on the ground, and gradually, bones popped up from the surface and began to form what looked like a sword. He snapped his fingers and they sunk back into the ground. "Felix, on the other hand..." He glanced at him, and Felix nodded. He held out his hand and made a pulling motion. The ring on Nico's finger flew off, and Felix caught it.

"Hey!" Nico said indignantly.

"You wanted a demonstration!" I protested.

"Fair enough" he sighed. "Anyway, Felix can kind of control metals and that. Not very well, but more or less." He snatched his ring back.

"So, where were we?"

"The controlling metal thing," I supplied.

"Right, so basically, Thalia decided to test me by throwing my knives at me. I suppose I should've expected that. But before I could do anything Jade decided to step in - she made a sort of shield with water, which then exploded, giving everyone a pretty good shower."

I frowned. "I did all that? Sorry," I said sheepishly, blushing a little.

"Felix probably needed the wash anyway," commented Nico.

If I remembered right, Nico had been the one dirty and sweating when I last saw him - he had changed and presumably had a shower, which meant I had been out for some time. "How long was I out?" I panicked for a moment. Had it only been an hour? The sun was high in the sky, which meant that it couldn't have been that long. That, or it had been a whole day before I had woken now!

"Only a few hours," Felix said. I breathed a sigh of relief. It would not have been fun to miss my first proper day at camp.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Nico said. "Piper says to get your butt over to the arena _right now_ or forever be called a chicken." He disappeared as he said the last few words, presumably shadow travelling to the arena.

Felix swore. "I had completely forgotten about that!" he gasped.

"What have you been doing for the past three or so hours?" I asked.

"I uh... I stayed next to you in case you got worse." He reddened a bit. "They said you were going to be fine, but you never know..." he trailed off. I felt a little embarrassed by this, and a long silence followed his words.

"Don't you have to have to be somewhere?" I frowned.

"Oh - right," his eyes widened as he remembered. He looked like he had been distracted for a moment and completely forgot what he was supposed to be doing.

"I'll come with you," I offered.

"No, you should rest," he said, looking genuinely concerned. It touched me to know he actually cared.

"I'll be fine," I smiled, sliding out of the bed. "But _you_ won't be if you don't get over to the arena!"

We walked out of the infirmary. The sun was warm above us. Birds sung, and at that moment I realised how happy I was. The atmosphere was peaceful and filled with joviality. My worries were behind me. I was settling in. I had at least one friend already, not to mention a brother. Life was no longer the boring stretch of school, chores and homework. If I could, I would freeze this moment in time, and live in in it forever.

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**I was determined to get this chapter up before today - so here it is, a few minutes before tomorrow! :D**

**I thank the spontaneous visit of my story writing and creative mood! Please come back anytime you want! Of, course, thanks to everyone that has reviewed and showed me support!**

**-Nightlock64-**


	6. Close Combat and Familiar Faces

**Sorry for the long wait, if had a busy few weeks lately before actually got round to doing this chapter...but here ya go!**

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**Felix's POV**

I blocked a punch only to be thrown onto the ground by a kick that knocked the breath out of my lungs. I winced and breathed heavily, and then rolled to my right as Piper aimed a kick at my groin. I was starting to think that challenging her wasn't such a good idea - I had heard she had gone on a very important quest, but I had under-estimated her. From what she had shown from the start, she was a very experienced fighter.

I rolled backwards and got up again, blocking blows and kicks left and right. I desperately racked my brain for a strategy of how I could win. I couldn't keep this up forever - eventually she would land a blow and she might be able to pin me. The crowds yelled from the side - at least a third of the camp had turned up, hearing that some new kid had challenged the girl that had been on one of the most dangerous quests known. They had expected her to kick my butt, but I had some skill as well.

I had picked up martial arts quickly, and was soon beating kids older than me. It wasn't because I was strong - in fact I was rather weak - but because I was fast. My reflexes were excellent and I usually won by throwing my opponent off balance. I had always thought it was strange that I had fast reflexes but had never been able to get the hang of fighting with a sword. It had always felt awkward, and I got tired quickly trying to fight with one.

Piper lashed out, but I had anticipated it and side stepped her. Before I could do anything though, I felt a glancing blow on my head a reeled back. Despite my extensive knowledge of techniques in close combat, I couldn't beat Piper - she was too much like me - fast, but stronger, giving me no chance to counter attack or go on the offensive. I needed a bit more time to put my skills into practice. This gave me an idea. I ducked under a fist and ran to the other side of the arena.

"Coward!" the crowd jeered.

"Stand and fight!"

"Chicken!"

"He's running - what a loser!"

I ignored them and focused on Piper, who was advancing quickly, closing the gap between us. I was ready this time though. She was expecting a block or another evasive move, but I kicked out, catching her on her side, and then came forward with a flurry of punches to her face. She raised her arms just in time to block them, but in that moment I had made sure my feet were in her way and then gave her a shove, crashing against her arms that had been blocking my blows. There was nothing she could do to regain her balance, and she hit the ground hard, surprised by my outburst.

She recovered quickly though, and before I could get down to her level to pin her, she kicked me hard in the chest as I was coming down on her. I was thrown back and landed painfully on my side. I think she might've broke a few ribs there. I groaned and staggered to my feet, facing Piper again. I heard shouts of encouragement from the crowd. Unfortunately, they were directed at Piper.

She grinned at me and purposely aimed a thrust at my chest. I leant out the way, but I felt her knuckles brush past, sending a jolt of pain through my body. I grabbed her out-stretched arm and turned so that her next blow would hit my back, not my chest. Even so, I nearly lost my grip as I cried out in pain, but managed to hang on to her arm. I quickly got her into a painful arm lock, ignoring the tremendous ache in my ribs. I tripped her and she went down again, landing on her front. I quickly pounced on her and was just tasting victory when she rolled over and I lost my grip. She jumped up and saw I was still on the floor, breathing heavily.

She had crushed my ribs as when she had rolled over, leaving me in tides of pain. She walked over to me and smirked.

"You could give up now," she suggested, planting a foot on my stomach. Any higher up and I think I would have passed out, but I gritted my teeth and endured the pain for now. I had an idea. I pretended to look defeated and like I had given up hope. The arena was silent.

"You know what," I coughed, spitting up blood. I paused for a moment. "Perhaps..." I looked like I was considering my choices. "Not!" I said suddenly, grabbing her leg and twisting it so that I was no longer below her. I then turned and rugby tackled her, wrapping my arms around her legs, driving her down with my shoulders.

She was taken completely by surprise, landing awkwardly. I pinned her and grabbed her arms. "You could give up now," I smiled mockingly. She struggled, but it was no use.

"Or," she said, a strange quality entering her voice, "you could just get off me." I laughed.

"Or," I said, mimicking her, "you could just stay there." I rolled my eyes. "You know that won't work on me, Piper."

"Stupid Hades kids," she cursed. "Why can't you be like the others? Fine, I give up. But you got lucky this time."

The crowd was murmuring in disbelief - how had he beat her? Then again, it had been very close. But still - Piper was a very good fighter, often compared with Annabeth. Nico and Jade ran to me, supporting me and helping me up.

"Looks like another trip to the infirmary," he said.

"Oh my gosh, Felix, are you alright?" Jade said, panic creeping into her voice.

"Ribs," I answered simply. "Think they're broken." Annabeth and Percy were yelling at people to let me through. I noticed they were always together, no matter what they seemed to be doing. I remember seeing them together by the strawberry fields, at sword practice, on the beach, and under the warm glow of the campfire every night. They always seemed happy together - that is, except, when Annabeth was lecturing Percy about archery.

My trail of thought was broken by an overpowering sense of drowsiness, and then I fell - both onto a stretcher and into sleep.

* * *

**Jade's POV**

I couldn't stop worrying. He looked bad, barely able to stand. I guessed adrenaline had made him ignore the pain in the fight, but now that it was over he started registering it. I could tell he wasn't going to make it to the infirmary. Several campers rushed over with medical kits, but then they saw how bad he was and yelled for someone else. The same blonde that had been talking with Felix in the infirmary came over - Lizzie, I remembered.

The Apollo guys said something to her, and she nodded. She then began muttering and her markings on her hands glowed purple. An older teenager came over with a stretcher, just as Felix collapsed.

"He's just asleep," Nico reassured me. I nodded, feeling rather helpless at the moment.

"He should be ok by tomorrow morning, but I'm not sure he'll be able to walk," said the girl who had brought the stretcher. "Hey, you're the one that arrived yesterday, right?" She shook her head. "No, I swear I've seen you before..."

"You can't have," I frowned. "I don't see how I could have met you...like you said, I came just yesterday." I looked at her carefully. She had long, blond hair, and flawless features. "You're a daughter of Apollo?" I asked, seeing that they had all resembled each other.

"Yeah..." She was studying me intently. _Wait_, I thought. Not _completely_ flawless. I noticed what looked like a scar on the right side of her head, running down her cheek.

"No, I think you just look like an old friend," she said a little bluntly, before leaving and heading towards her cabin.

I let the thought go and tried to forget about the conversation, but that night, it was still wandering around in the back of my mind. _There definitely had been something...We had met before. _But I just couldn't remember how or when we might've met. _But she had looked familiar... What had she said? An old friend._

I shook my head in frustration. None of it made sense. I eventually drifted off, letting sleep take over me. A dreamless sleep, I had hoped. But sadly, that was not the case.

* * *

**I have had some ideas, so I hope the action and mystery in this chapter will be a suitable apology for the wait. I'll try to update every 2 weeks at the latest, so around twice a month - maybe more if I have time!**

**-Nightlock64-**


	7. Hunting

**Sorry, I know it's a little late (I said I would try to get in two a month at least), but I've been busy with exams and school stuff...Ah well, the main thing is it's here now, right?**

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**Felix's POV**

I woke up on a hospital bed. There was a weak light coming through some half-closed blinds, but otherwise my surroundings were fairly dim. I groaned as I sat up, felling a dull ache in my ribs. I remembered yesterday fairly clearly, and smiled as I realised that I _had_ beaten Piper. My last minute maneuver had taken her by surprise, and she had landed awkwardly as well - not that I cared much, since she had nearly broken some of my ribs. A tall glass of ambrosia sat on a small table next to me, which I sipped on until it was gone.

I glanced at a clock on the wall, and figured I should just go back to sleep. 6:45 was usually too early for me - hell, 6:45 was usually too early for anyone. Aphrodite kids might be up, doing make-up and stuff, as well as the Athena cabin. They were usually working on some project, and tended to have an addiction for coffee so that they could get up earlier and go to bed late.

But I had slept along time, and felt rested and awake. I sighed, wondering if I would be strong enough to walk. I slid out of bed and landed clumsily on my feet, swaying a little before righting myself. I was still in my grimy clothes from the fight, so I made my way to the my cabin to change and clean up.

It was windy outside, a strong, chilly breeze snapping at me as I hurried best I could to my room. It occurred to me that someone might be worried if they found me missing, but now that I was up I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep. When I opened the door, a gust of wind blew stuff around and slammed the door behind me, but Nico didn't even stir. _Still upholding his reputation for 'sleeping like the_ _dead__'_ I thought, smirking.

When I was feeling a little more refreshed, I realised I really had nothing to do. I glanced around mine and Nico's 'organised mess' (or so he liked to call it) and saw I needed more arrows for my bow. Throwing knives were my preferred weapon, but I could work with a bow and arrow as well. And if I ran out of either, I had a wicked sharp dagger, jagged along the edges with purple and silver markings along the handle and blade. My friend, Harley, had made it for me (son of Hephaestus), but Lizzie had enchanted it so that it was more or less invisible. Only I was supposed to be able to see it, but I had later discovered that Nico could see it too, as well Annabeth when she had her invisibility cap on.

She had been intrigued by this, and had spent a good week or so examining and comparing the magic of her cap, given to her by her mum, and my dagger. She said it must have just been that Lizzie had used similar magic to what her cap was enchanted by. It turned out that it worked both ways - when I held my dagger, I could see Annabeth as well. She hadn't been too thrilled by this.

I quickly found what I was looking for - Stygian iron arrows, but slightly modified to be lighter and more aerodynamic. Harley had warned me that we were a little low on Stygian Iron, so I had tried not to lose the arrows, but they had seemingly vanished in various training exercises in the woods. I returned to the archery range to pick up my knives as well, but found they were gone. I didn't think too much of it. I'd find them later - someone had probably just put them away - not many other people used throwing knives.

I returned to my cabin and put the arrows in my quiver, but then hauled it over my shoulder and dug around for my bow. I decided a bit of monster hunting wouldn't do any harm, and I was keen to do something active - the ambrosia had fixed me up pretty good so I figured that I would be alright. I found my bow in my underwear draw (go figure) and left, but not before setting Nico's alarm clock for 7:30 and laying it gently on his pillow next to him. Hey, I was probably doing him a favor - he rarely gets up early enough, and as the Athena kids said, _'Carpe Diem!'_

* * *

I loosed my arrow just as the manticore realized it was being targeted. It darted off and I followed in quick pursuit, grabbing my arrow that had lodged into the ground. Manticores were dangerous - a human face and a lion's body, but with a scorpion's tail. They could shoot spikes from their tail with deadly accuracy, and they were usually poisonous. I made sure to keep my distance, but didn't let it out of my sight.

The manticore scrambled down a hill and leapt over a fallen tree. They could be quite nimble on their paws, and it gave me a job to keep up. The forest became denser and I started wondering if I should stop pursuing it - they were more dangerous beasts in these parts of the woods and if I attracted, for example, a dragon's attention, I might be in trouble.

Luckily, the manticore stopped behind a boulder and launched a volley of deadly spikes from behind it. I swore and dived to the left, grazing my arm on a bush. I winced as I picked out something from my hand, and then dodged behind a tree as I heard it hissing. The ground around me was studded with spikes. I notched another arrow in my bow and glanced out from round the tree. It was standing alert next to the boulder, deciding if I had gone or not. I slowly knelt down and picked up a stone, and threw it to my left. It bounced off a tree, which almost immediately got a fistful of thorns embedded in its trunk. I darted out from behind my tree and fired. The arrow only glanced off its tail though, and it returned fire quickly. I ran around it in a wide arc, and rolled behind a large rock.

The manticore had retreated behind the boulder again, launching random volleys of poisonous thorns in my general direction. I wouldn't be able to hit it behind the boulder, and if I came out, it would probably hit me before I could aim and fire. The running and chasing it had made me tired, and every time something brushed across my chest my ribs would hurt a bit, reminding me of my injury. _Dammit, why did Piper have to kick me so hard? _The fact she been wearing combat boots hadn't helped.

I caught sight of a tree not too far in front of me, and an idea formed in my head. If I got high enough, I could target even when it was hiding behing the boulder! But if I came out it was bound to spot me. I sighed. I could go 'invisible', but I wasn't sure how long I would be able to keep it up. I was going to try anyway. I took another stone, got ready to run, and then threw it. It ricocheted off a tree and actually nearly hit the manticore, but had only distracted it for a moment. I jumped up and jogged over to the tree quietly. I slung my bow over my shoulder and began climbing steadily, being careful to maintain my aura of darkness that hid me while I grabbed hold of the branches.

Now, as I might have mentioned before, I'm not exactly a hulk of muscle, so that gave me an advantage when I was climbing. The lighter I was, the higher I could go. As I reached the thinner branches towards the top, I swung round the other side of the tree so that I would be able to see the manticore (and hopefully he wouldn't see me). This reminded me of Katniss and The Hunger Games, one of my favourite movies. I grinned as I imagined Katniss in the exact same position. I had read the books as well, and understood why she liked to be high up, able to see everything around and below you. I stopped manipulating the darkness and a wave of relief flooded over me - I wouldn't have been able to stay like that much longer. I drew two arrows form my quiver, slotted one in a loop on my belt (it was meant for my knives, but the arrows fitted as well), and slowly took aim. The manticore was in my line of sight, and I had a clear, unobstructed shot at it.

I was just about to fire when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I quickly drew back and sat as still as possible. A nest had been built in the tree next to me, barely ten meters away. But not your everyday, cute, pigeon's nest. Your well above average, deadly, Stymphalian's birds nest. They tended to group together and attack in large swarms, so I guessed that their nests would be more or less in one area. Unfortunately, I was right. I looked at the trees around me and saw similar nests, mostly occupied. I cursed under my breath. I remember Percy and Annabeth retelling an encounter with them when Chiron had been away and replaced with Tantalus, a man that had been and was once again condemned to the Underworld. They had attacked viciously and pretty much shredded any flesh on sight, as well as being able to shoot their feathers like arrows.

_When I was hidden by the darkness, they must have not noticed me_, I thought. _But there's every chance they will now._ I forced myself to calm down as panic rose inside me. _Think, think, think,_ I told myself. They were scared by loud noises, but I had no idea how I was going to make one of those. Shout? Bang some rocks together? I leaned back against the tree and felt my quiver dig uncomfortably into my back. _My quiver..._

I had heard some Apollo archers talking about all sorts of arrows with various attachments, including something called a sonic arrow. After their success in the war against the Titans, they had made more, and I had found a few lying around in the armory. Naturally, I took them. If they were just leaving them out, I presumed that meant they had more than enough. _I could use the arrow the scare the birds..._

I looked through my quiver, where I found two. I carefully slid one out. It occurred to me that they might have just been some dodgy prototypes, but I dismissed the thought. I had no better ideas. I leaned forward and aimed at a nearby tree. _Here goes... _The arrow made a high pitch whistling noise before hitting the tree and emitting a loud blast of sound. The sky was suddenly blotted out by a mass of black feathers and golden beaks. Cries broke out as the birds were thrown into chaos, flapping about and fleeing. The force of the blast also knocked me off balance, and I fell, catching on branches painfully. I briefly managed to grab hold of one, but my momentum and gravity meant that my hands slipped.

I was just about to face plant the ground when I stopped falling and hovered about five inches off the ground. Then I hit the ground, but not half as badly as I would've done.

"Looks like someone needed a bit of help."

I grunted a sat up. Lizzie stood close by on a small hill, holding a bunch of herbs and flowers in one hand.

"I was doing just fine!" I protested, trudging over to her.

"You're idea of 'fine' is free falling from a tree while disturbing Stymphalian birds?" she asked.

"Well..." I sighed. "Okay, thanks."

"No problem."

"What are you doing here anyway? You're not really one for exploring the forest, especially not at this hour of morning."

"I was collecting some ingredients for a spell that I needed to get on with today... I guess I went a bit to far in, but that's where these were," she said waving her handful of plants. "I heard a loud noise and, well, found you." She gestured at me. "And what were you doing? Aren't you supposed to be in the infirmary?"

"Uh...nooo? Um, maybe." Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I was hunting a manticore." As the words left my mouth my eyes widened and I rugby tackled her to the ground, rolling behind the small hill and into a ditch.

"What th-? Get off me!" I realized my awkward position on top of her and blushed, rolling away.

"It's probably still there," I whispered, still red at the cheeks.

"Do you think we can confront it together?"

"Probably. Could you, um, blow it up, or, set it on fire or something? That would help."

Lizzie thought for a moment. "I could freeze it. Ten seconds at most."

I nodded. "Okay, on three. One; two; three!"

We burst out from our hiding spot and Lizzie waved her hand at the monster. It slowed and then stopped. I fired my arrow that was notched in my bow, but I had forgotten that Lizzie had frozen it. Normally, you had to fire just in front of a moving target to hit it, so the arrow flew just in front of it. I quickly grabbed the arrow in my belt in fired again, hitting the monster in the neck. Nothing happened for a moment - it just stood there, frozen, and then collapsed.

What I like about Stygian iron was that it didn't turn the monsters to dust, like Celestial bronze or Imperial gold, but drained the life from the victim until there was nothing left. It kind of absorbed them, which apparently meant they stayed dead for longer, according to Annabeth.

"Nice," I grinned to Lizzie, who looked a little tired.

"I need breakfast," she said. "I haven't eaten a thing yet."

I nodded and quickly jogged over to retrieve my arrows. I found the one that had killed the monster easily enough, but the arrow that had missed was nowhere to be seen. I tried summoning it, but even that didn't work. I frowned. It couldn't have gone far.

A roar suddenly echoed through the trees and a plume of fire rose from a clearing nearby. I sighed. "Yeah, I think we should get going," I agreed, turning my back towards whatever was out there. _A dragon? A small drakon? One of the Hephaestus kid's haywire inventions?_ I didn't want to find out. I would have to leave the arrow.

Me and Lizzie jogged through the woods, heading for the mess hall.

* * *

**Okay, I know it's like a week late, and my next update will be late as well probably, but I've got lots of school projects going on at the moment. When we hit the holidays I'll be updating much more often hopefully, so please bear with me!**

**Yes, I'm a Hunger Games fan as well, so I put in a few references to that :)**

**Also, thanks for the reviews! J.D, I would suggest getting an account or something instead of just reviewing as a guest - you can follow the story and other stories as well, and we could chat or something, I don't know. Anyway, thanks!**

**-Nightlock64-**


	8. Armour and Strategies

**Sorry I haven't updated at all yet during the holidays, I just kinda lost interest...but I am back now! I realise to make my update schedule (wait, I have an update schedule!?) a little more realistic, I think I'll do just 1 update a month...**

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**Felix's POV**

The armoury was bustling with people picking out breastplates, working out last minute strategies, and struggling to find a helmet that fitted them.

"I swear everyone in this camp has a big head!" grumbled Lizzie, digging through a crate of blue helmets. The teams were already more or less sorted, being pretty much the same each game, the only frequent changes being the Athena and Apollo cabins switching every now and then when the Ares cabin got on their nerves. The teams were as follows:

Blue Team (Leaders - Will & Nico)

- Demeter cabin

- Apollo's cabin

- Aphrodite's cabin

- Dionysus' cabin

- Hades' cabin

- Iris' cabin

- Hypnos' cabin

- Hebe's cabin

- Tyche's cabin

- Hecate's cabin

Red Team (Leaders - Clarisse & Annabeth)

- Ares' cabin

- Athena's cabin

- Poseidon's cabin

- Hermes' cabin

- Hephaestus' cabin

- Nemesis' cabin

- Nike's cabin

Sure, it was 7 vs 10, but they had the best fighters, strategists and engineers. They red team seemed to be a little arrogant, not wanting most of the minor gods and taking on 3 more cabins, and still winning the majority of the time. We only had slightly more people on the blue team, as Hermes' cabin often had quite a few undetermined half-bloods.

There was only supposed to be one leader per team, but Clarisse and Annabeth often fought over who was leader, and when Nico wasn't here Will took his place. I always looked forward to capture the flag, but when I looked around I caught Jade's eye and saw she wasn't quite the same. I made my way towards her, working around the crowds of campers rather than trying to muscle my way through.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I-I can't really get the hang of all this armour," she said. "And I'm not really all that good at fighting. I'm going to be useless," she muttered sullenly.

"Hey, you'll be fine!" I reassured her. "I saw you and Percy training this afternoon, you were really good for a beginner!"

"I dunno," she said. "All this armour is just reminding how real all this is..."

"C'mon, just go with the flow," I suggested. Okay, not really something I did often, but she looked pretty down. Annabeth came over and readjusted a few straps on Jade's armour.

"Just stick with me and you'll do great," she grinned. "We're going to thrash you, Stone!" Jade glanced back at me as she followed Annabeth, and I gave her an encouraging smile.

"You just going to stand there and stare at the new girl, or get on a helmet and lead the right flank?"

I picked up a stray helmet and fiddled with the chin strap, before turning to Will Solace. I liked Will - he wasn't such a player like the other Apollo kids, and he would sometimes offer archery tips to me, in exchange for me teaching him about knife-throwing.

The helmet I had was barely a helmet, made of extremely light metal and more just to display my team colour than anything else. I disliked wearing armour even more than Jade - my breastplate was made out of the same lightweight metal as my helmet, and the only other things I was wearing for protection were my arm guards. I had been told many times I should probably put something a little tougher on, but I liked to stay light and comfortable, and could barely fight at all with heavy armour. Believe me, when you try pulling an arrow out your quiver in full armour, you'll understand.

"Okay, blue team to me!" Will called out to the crowd.

"Red team, get your asses over here!" yelled Clarisse.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" someone asked.

Nico answered. "Piper leads the left flank with her cabin, Demeter's cabin, Dionysus' cabin and Hebe's cabin. My lil' bro here, Felix, is taking right flank I understand?" I nodded. "Right, you go with Iris' cabin, Tyche's cabin, Hypnos' cabin and the Hecate cabin. I'll stay here with the Apollo cabin and defend the flag. Any questions?"

"What happens if both my flank and Felix's manage to get there at the same time? Who takes the flag?" said Piper. Nico considered this for a moment.

"They've got the Athena cabin and the Hephaestus cabin to set traps and work out the best strategy, as well as the Ares cabin who'll pretty much destroy everything in their way. Plus they've got Percy, who normally guards it by the river. If you both make it their at the same time and have to sit around to decide who takes the flag, I'll give everyone in the flanks 20 drachma each."

"Okay, so basically you're saying we're going to get slaughtered," a voice came through the crowd of blue helmets.

Will spoke up. "I think we need to vary our strategy. They know we'll always try flanking, so we should do something different."

"Like...?" said Nico, waiting for an answer.

"Demeter cabin has good melee and close combat fighters. We can defend the flag with support of archers from the Iris cabin. The Hades and Apollo cabin are the strongest. They should go on the attack."

All eyes were on Katie. "What? Gardening isn't _that_ time consuming! I can do other stuff too!"

"She has a point. Nico, you can try and stall Percy, and Felix and my cabin can deal with the other defenders from a distance," Will agreed. "Who are the fastest runners here?"

"I'm fast," I answered. "But you wanted me helping your cabin."

"I'll go," came a girl voice. I recognised her vaguely from the Hebe cabin, but didn't know her. I had seen her in some exercises - and remembered her acing the assualt course. She was small and looked about 14 wore about as much armour as me, had shortish dirty blond hair and tomboyish style clothes. She carried a short sword and a light shield strapped to her forearm.

"You're fast?" asked Will.

"Yeah, you could say so."

"Right. Felix and -" he stopped, and glanced at the girl.

"Jess."

"Felix and Jess take the flag. Which ever one of you gets to it first grabs it and runs. The other escorts them." Me and Jess nodded.

"Okay the rest of us just take the most direct route and go on full attack when we spot their flag. Ready?"

"Wait!" Lizzie called out. "We can set up some enchantments round our flag, if you want."

Will smiled. "That would be great! Use any other tricks or magical items you've got as well. Right, just watch out for traps high and low guys, those Hephaestus kids can be nasty!"

Chiron's hoof echoed on the marble pavilion floor and everyone fell silent. "Okay heroes, you know the rules, but I understand we've had some new people lately, so I'll go over them again. You can go anywhere in the forest, but I'll remind you the deeper you go the more dangerous it is. Any magical items are allowed, and any prisoners cannot be bound or gagged, but may be disarmed. Your flag has to be displayed prominently and cannot be hidden. I'll be the referee and battle medic - the game finishes when one team seizes their opponents flag and returns it to their base, _without_ their flag being taken. Okay, you have one minute to place your flag - when the conch shell sounds, you may move from your bases."

"Blue team, lets go!"

"Red team! Move it! Hey, if you don't catch up, we'll leave you behind!"

Clarisse's yells faded, as did the sunlight, as we ventured further into the southern parts of the woods.

"Okay," called Will, as he stuck the flag in some soft soil on a small raised hill. "You know what we discussed. Find their flag as soon as possible and charge them. Nico, you deal with Percy. Felix, Jess, try and nab the flag and then get out of there. Demeter and Iris cabin, you stay here and defend the flag."

We distantly heard the conch being blown, and the game was on.

* * *

**Okay, really sorry for the 5 - 6 week long wait (or something like that), but I just kinda lost interest. I recently went to see the Sea of Monsters though, and that got me back into it. I thought the film was pretty good, if anyone wants to discuss it or something? You can guess what's coming in the next chapter, so look forward to it! I promise to update before September, to try and make up for the really long gap.**

**-Nightock64-**


	9. Capture the Flag - Part 1

**So, here it is, nice and early to make up for my last update date! Enjoy...**

* * *

Our main attacking party split into several groups heading different directions into the north section of the forest, each group equipped with a flare to alert the rest of our team if they found the other's flag. Me and Jess followed behind the largest, central group, keeping a look out for any sign of the Red team.

We kept advancing through the thick trees, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Suddenly, off to our left some distance away, a red flare lit up the sky for a brief few seconds, and then died.

"Move, move, move!" yelled Will. "Nico's group is on the other side, so they're going to need some help!"

"Company!" called out someone else, as we sighted all small unit from the Ares Cabin. There were only about six or seven of them, but they were vicious fighters. Clarisse wasn't there, which meant that she had probably gone past us to find our flag - she never stayed back to defend her flag. The Apollo cabin dropped back whilst the close combat fighters held them off.

The Apollo cabin had fun with their arrows, and had a large assortment to choose from. One released a net, ensnaring an enemy. Another exploded into confetti with a tremendous BANG!, right in front of one of the Ares fighters, sending him stumbling back in surprise. One Ares camper got peppered with arrows that left a very sticky sort of glue on them, and one of his arms got stuck to his chest. He stupidly tried to pull it off with his other one, only succeeding in getting that one stuck as well. 'Twinkle twinkle little star' randomly started playing as I watched another arrow fly through the air, and there was a sudden

Somewhere among the ranks of the Apollo archers someone shouted: "Here comes an itchy one!" and our swordsmen at the front yelled and scrambled away from the Ares fighters. I grinned - this was going to be funny. I slid out an arrow marked: 'Black Powder 20m', and notched it in my bow.

The Apollo cabin had got themselves into some sort of formation and released a volley of arrows that connected with the fast-approaching Ares cabin. The effect was fantastic. As each arrow made contact they snapped and released powders of various colours. One started got hit by an arrow that exploded into blue dust, and then started walking around into trees muttering nonsense, while another broke out into a loud and violent coughing fit. A bright flash like a blinded an Ares fighter I vaguely recognised and left him in a shower of glittery powder that stuck to him and made him look like a Christmas decoration. The others were fidgeting and scratching like crazy, taking off their armour and rubbing against trees. Several broke out with angry red rashes, and one of them managed to call: "To the lake!"

"Nope," I muttered, loosing my arrow. There was a small poof as it disintegrated into the retreating group of campers, and suddenly everything within about a twenty meter radius went pitch black. Luckily, we were just outside the range of the black cloud, but we scrambled back just in case it spread.

"Heyy!"

"What did you do!?"

"I'm blind!"

"Ow, that was my head!"

We jogged away from the dark cloud, heading left towards our friends who had found the flag. One of our swordsmen had taken quite a beating from the fight, and one of the Apollo cabins muttered a healing spell and helped him get back to our base.

* * *

Things were not looking good. By the time we had reached our group that had set off to the left, they were retreating under the intimidation of some Hephaestus and Nemesis swordsmen, and the fire of some archers from the Athena cabin. Percy was also by the river, knocking us back with giant waves and even trapping several people in mini whirlpools. We entered the battlefield yelling war cries and rallying our friends.

"CHARGE!"

"BLUE TEAM!"

"FIGHT!"

Our front line campers slammed into the Hephaestus kids, and I'd like to say it sent them tumbling back and we pressed onto the attack, but it was like running into a brick wall. An armour plated brick wall. Wait - not even that. An armour plated brick wall armed with lethal, magical swords. We fell back momentarily, before engaging them in combat. The Hephaestus cabin crafted excellent weapons and magic items, and were good fighters and very strong, as well as being smart. In other words, you did not want to mess with them. Their only downfall was their numbers, there were only about four, maybe five of them. The Nemesis cabin didn't help much to make up for their lack of numbers, as there wasn't really many of them either. There must have been about half the Athena cabin though - a few swordsmen but mostly archers. No Annabeth.

I cursed under my breath as I fired arrow after arrow at the Athena archers, who were focusing on our swordsmen. They had probably sent their strongest fighters to take our flag and left Percy and the others to defend theirs. They must have split them into several smaller groups, like us. We had come across one - the Ares kids - but had seen no sign of the others. And what of the Hermes cabin? They had quite a lot of campers, only a few of which were decent fighters, but I hadn't seen one of them throughout the game so far.

Another Athena archer fell as I hit them square in the chest with a blunted arrow. I had found that sharp arrows had little effect against armour, but blunted arrows were heavier and packed a bigger punch. I drew back as my leg got nicked by an arrow, drawing blood - the Athena archers had clocked on that someone was targeting them, and it hadn't been any of the Apollo cabin, who were helping to push back their swordsmen. I ducked behind a tree and quickly slid off my quiver and looked through my arrows. I was running out of normal ones, and I tried to save my special arrows in case I was needed for a quest or something. I hadn't had one yet, but I hoped sometime one would come round.

I counted 6 normal arrows remaining, and at least a dozen various other special ones. I didn't really use my throwing knives in training exercises like these, because it was difficult to just injure people with them - they either hit and killed the target, or missed. With arrows you get many different types of arrows that can do lots of things, and with spears or swords you could disarm or injure, or at least stall the enemy. I couldn't go up against a full length sword with my knives, they were too small. I sighed - I hoped it wouldn't come to me having to my dagger.

Me and Jess were supposed to have just quickly grabbed the flag and run back, but as Nico still wasn't here Percy was free to sweep us off our feet and keep the flag in it's own little hurricane. If I had known that I was going to be fighting, I would have taken an extra quiver. I looked round and found Jess struggling against a Nemesis kid. My arrow hit him on the side and he stumbled back, giving Jess the chance to go in for a quick strike to the face. He fell back as her sword connected with his chin and his sword fell in a puddle. Just then I was floored my a jet of water and landed hard on my side.

"You okay?" Jess said, deflecting an arrow off her small shield. Damn, her hand-eye co-ordination was amazing!

"What? Oh, yeah, thanks." I cursed Percy under my breath as I stood up. "Right, we need to grab the flag as soon as Nico gets here. He'll have the element of surprise and hopefully Percy will be, well, surprised."

"Okay," Jess nodded, looking up at me. "How do you know when he's going to get here?"

I smiled. "He's near. That or someone else has a Stygian Iron blade nearby. I'd go for the first one."

"Watch out!" Jess cried, pushing me, hard. An arrow glanced off my breastplate (see, it's not completely useless!) as I over-balanced and fell into a clump of wet bushes.

"Okay, lets get to cover and then talk," I decided, as I ran over to a tree that had fallen over. She followed quickly, crouching down next to me.

"Right, so who's grabbing the flag?" she asked. "And shouldn't Nico kinda be owing us 20 drachma each as we're sitting around discussing this?"

I grinned. "Yeah, I'll get them off him. And I don't mind who takes the flag - would you prefer that I do it or you?"

"I think I'd like to 'escort' you, as Will put it. In other words, I'll stick anyone that comes near ya. Okay?"

I smiled. "Sounds like a plan." Tensing suddenly, I jumper up and looked at the battle, where we were painfully slowly edging the red team back. " Okay, get ready! Any second now." I could tell Stygian Iron was near, very near.

"I'll grab the flag and run past this log again, and then head back to base. When I go past, join me okay?"

"Got it," she smiled.

There was no battle cry or loud encouragement to our fighters when Nico arrived - that would ruin the surprise. He simply stepped out of a shadow behind Percy, hit him hard in the back with the hilt of his sword (on his Achilles heel, might I add), and then launched a vicious kick to send him tumbling down. At that moment I burst out from behind the log, dodged round several swords and a burly Hephaestus kid, and grabbed the flag. Out of the corner or my eye, I saw an archer loose an arrow at me. I stopped and focused for a moment, and the arrow deflected harmlessly off me about 2 inches from my shoulder. I quickly sprinted past the main war zone and fled past the log without stopping, knowing that I would now have most of the red team's attention.

Luckily, I doubted anyone could follow me, because when I glanced back Nico's unit had stormed their base, surrounding the Hephaestus kids and reaching the archers who were generally hopeless in close combat. But Percy had got apparently got back up and was fighting, because I heard the river explode behind me and there was a brief downpour as everything nearby got soaked. Yup, that was angry Percy. I just hoped Nico could hold him off long enough.

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**I decided to do the capture the flag in two or three parts (most probably two), so there's the first one, and the next will be up by October. Ugh, school soon and I'm not really looking forward to it! :(**

**Oh, another thing I noticed is that my views shot up by 81 when I posted my last chapter, but I only got a few reviews. Please guys, even if it's a few words, it's encouraging to know people like my story and stuff, so please take just a few seconds to review! Even if you don't like it, or utterly despise it, please do say! :) Thanks you everyone!**

**-Nightlock64-**


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